Still a sinner
by Fullmetal-Alchemist1uk
Summary: AU fic in which Ed fails to bind Al's soul to the armour.
1. The transmutation

Title - Still a Sinner

Chapter -1?

Author - Fullmetal-Alchemist1uk

Disclaimer - I don't own FMA damnit

Rating - PG13

Pairings - None

This is an AU fic in which Ed is unsuccessful in binding Al's soul to the armour.

"Just trust me Al. I know we can do it. We will bring Mom back."

Alphonse Elric didn't say it, but unlike his older brother, he wasn't so sure. Yes, they did buy all the ingredients, and yes Ed's calcuations did seem correct, but... Nobody had succeeded at bringing the dead back to life. Teacher had always said that they should accept the laws of nature and alchemy and Al normally would never dream of disobeying her, but right now it was getting harder to ignore Ed's growing insistence that they should attempt the forbidden and just do it already.

He had to admit, it would be good to see her again. After all, both of them were still kids, and since their dad - _why didn't you even attend the funeral? You didn't even say goodbye properly - _has never been there for them, it was up to them to bring Mom back and see her smile again.

Al blinked, realising that Ed was studying him, frowning slightly.

"Brother, are...are you sure about this? Maybe we should wait, see if Dad turns up - "

"No, Al. It has to be us. That guy never gave a damn. But we do. Al, you haven't changed your mind have you? I mean, you do wanna see Mom again right?"

And it was so tempting to say yes he had changed his mind, for he knew Ed would sulk but agree to most things Al asked of him. It was strange, that the fierce older brother who hated having to do chores when asked by Mason or even Teacher would so easily give in to the younger. But...

Mom...

He nodded, not quite trusting himself to say anything. Yeah, Brother was right. They were pretty good alchemists for their tender young ages, they could do it. It would be the three of them again. Like it was supposed to be.

Ed smiled slightly at him, then turned his attention back to drawing the array. Vaguely, Al had to wonder whether Ed had thought of what they could offer for a soul, since it seemed the physical body wouldn't be a problem. He shivered slightly, and he had to admit to himself that the suits of armour spooked him still. He tried to encourage himself by thinking he was as strong and as unwielding as armour, but that thought didn't last very long, he was just Alphonse Elric, a girly wimp, too scared to totally believe that his older brother would manage to make everything right again.

"I'm done drawing the array. Al?"

Ed was offering him one last chance to back out, and despite his thoughts _teacherwillbemaditwon'tworkmomisdeadthisiswrong_ Al knew he had to be as strong as Brother was being, that there was no way back now, they would bring Mom back.

"Don't worry, it's perfect. All we need now is information for the soul" Ed stood up and held up the knife to his finger, wincing slightly, then handing it to Al.

Then, the brothers turned to each other, nodded, then put their hands down on the array together.

Ed couldn't stop the grin as the yellow light of the transmutation filled the basement, this was easy! Adults had been puzzling the code for stopping death for centuries, and here was two young boys able to achieve what they had not. It seemed not even _He_ had been able to do this, and Ed felt a rush of triumph.

Then, he felt it, as the light turned purple and the transmutation turned violent. This was wrong. He looked round the room in panic, before Al's scream made him turn to face his younger brother and -

Al was disappearing. It looked as though something was destroying his body, black tentacles winding their way up, and Al was gone before Ed could even grab his hand.

"AL!"

"Brother!"

Then it was Ed's turn to scream as black _things_ grabbed at him too. It suddenly felt as though he could see everything - past, present, even the possible future, all of humankind, and more. He was going to go mad with the sheer weight of knowledge being forced into his too young mind. Then it stopped, and he saw It.

Truth.

Ed could only stare at it in shock and awe. He could see the countless beings within it. He knew that he was so close to finding out what he needed to know to bring his Mother back properly.

He felt the rumble go through him as Truth spoke to him, demanding a fee for his puny demands to see more.

And then he was back in the basement again, pain running through him as he realised what Truth's fee was.

His leg was gone.

No, it wasn't supposed to be like this, his theories were correct, but no he knew now, it wasn't the calculations, but him and Al. They had screwed it up. A low sound - like that of a heart beat - made him look up and then he knew what it was the loss of his leg had gained him.

He could only gape at it for a few seconds before he was violently sick and oh god Al!

Ed could only hope that it wasn't too late to at least salvage Al's soul, even if his body had been taken by Truth. He painfully crawled over to a suit of armour that had been knocked over by the force of the transmutation, and without hesitation, began to draw arrays on himself.

_Please, give him back to me. I'll give up everything - my arms, my leg, even my heart. Just give him back, he's the only little brother I have!_

As soon as he activated the arrays he was back in that place again with the black creatures fighting for control over him, yet what did they matter compared to Al, Ed wasn't going to give up that easily - yes, that was Al's soul -

**No.**

_What? No? I don't understand, I'll give you anything just please - _

**There are some things which cannot be gained that easily, young fool. We can take anything we want from you, and not have to give back in return.**

Ed could only scream as the beings took his arm from him, sending him crashing back again to the basement, and he continued to scream until the darkness swept over him.

Winry Rockbell frowned slightly, looking up from the practice automail she was repairing. She could have sworn she heard a scream, but she merely shrugged, figuring it to be her imagination before returning to work.


	2. Enter Roy Mustang

Title - Still a Sinner  
Chapter -2  
Author - Fullmetal-Alchemist1uk  
Disclaimer - I don't own FMA damnit  
Rating - PG13  
Pairings - None  
This is an AU fic in which Ed is unsuccessful in binding Al's soul to the armour.

Lt. Colonel Roy Mustang stared across the dark fields of Resembool, eyes narrowing in the rain. He had originally been interested in being there because of Hohenheim, apparenly the military had been interested in him for a long time because he was supposed to be a genius alchemist. His thoughts turned briefly to the letter he had found not too long ago, the return address and the name of Elric had jumped out at him. So, not even the sons knew where the father was. Hopefully, the boys would have their father's talent for alchemy but would be easier targets, so at least this journey wouldn't be a total waste. Maybe the older brother, the one who had written the letter, would be good enough to impress even Hakuro and his minions.

Roy frowned as a sudden glare of light flickered from the house across the hill and felt his stomach turn. He knew enough about alchemy (or at least alchemy other than his own specialty) to know what a rebound looked like.

But he had never heard of one that looked that fierce before.

Just what were those boys up to?

Then it seemed so obvious. The letter had been pleading, if the reader had known where Hohenheim was, tell him to get home as soon as possible since his wife was ill. Obviously, something had happened and were the boys stupid enough to try -

And as suddenly as it started, the light vanished.

Roy cautiously pushed the front door open, concerned that it hadn't been locked. He carefully searched all the rooms before making his way down to the basement.

He was sure he wasn't going to forget that sight in a hurry.

The room was dark and quiet, and nothing seemed out of place, aside from the complicated array in the middle of the floor - and there was so much blood. Mustang felt sick. True, he had been toying with the idea of human transmutation after Ishbal but Hughes and his own sense that he would at least try to make the military better before he died had prevailed. So much blood...

But no corpses.

He made his way gingerly over to the suit of armour that was lying partially on the array, and couldn't believe his eyes when he saw an array - was that.. was that drawn in blood - on the back of the inside of the armour, horribly cracked, as if the attempted transmutation hadn't worked. He didn't know what the array was for, so that was another thing he'd ask Hawkeye to check out when he got back to Central.

What of the Elric brothers? Had it been them who had tried this? There wasn't many alchemists, especially in this area, either powerful enough or had a motive to try human transmutation, so it had to have been them. Only, what happened to them? Even if they had failed their bodies would have still been here. He sighed and carefully made his way upstairs.

Perhaps he'd have better luck asking any of the neighbours, perhaps it might fill in a few of the questions now raised by this horror.

As he left the house he was unaware of the old woman who watched him from the side of the Elric household, her smile cruel yet amused.


End file.
